title: Evaluation of electrogustometry and the filter paper disc method for taste assessment.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that electrogustometry and the filter paper disc method are reliable methods to measure taste with a high degree of reproducibility.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To thoroughly evaluate the reliability of electrogustometry and the filter paper disc method for taste assessments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-nine healthy test persons without any history of chronic middle ear disease, aged between 27 and 62 years, were recruited. In all, 772 electrogustometry and 30 filter paper disc assessments were made. A nerve decay test was performed, with measures taken before and after eating sweet, sour, bitter, salt, a mild or spicy meal, after smoking, and after taking Swedish tobacco snuff ('snus'), as well as before and after local anesthesia of the tongue. Measurements were performed on 5 consecutive days and repeatedly during 1 day. The correlation between electrogustometry and the filter paper disc method was also studied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicate that electrogustometry and the filter paper disc method are reliable methods to measure taste with a high degree of reproducibility. The only actions causing significant changes in the electrogustometry readings were eating a bitter substance and having local anesthesia of the tongue. The correlation between the methods was statistically significant except for the bitter flavor, where the correlation was just below the level of significance.
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Research, County Council of Västmanland and Uppsala University, Västerås, Sweden. katarina.berling@spray.se
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Berling
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knutsson
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosenblad
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: von Unge
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004568:Electrodiagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D013651:Taste Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*